The purpose of stories and myths is to indirectly teach the civilization about the nuances of the society.By using storytelling to hint at social hierarchy, communities let their citizens know who is above or below them. Especially as children, people enjoy hearing tales about fantastic heroes and monsters who live interesting lives and change the world. Myths use these stories to teach children about the right choices in life, and also what not to do. Mythology is also used to explain how things came to be. Myths can explain how the world is formed or why certain animals look like they do. Myths tell the young of a population how to define good and evil so that when they grow up, the children will have the society's values at heart.
Creation Myths Essay
Across the world each civilization has its own way of explaining how the world was created. In the Iroquois story "The World on the Turtle's Back" the women create the Earth, but the men are worshiped as gods for creating land animals. In the Chinese myth "Pan Gu and Nu Wa" the man creates the Earth and shapes the universe, while the woman creates mankind and saves the world that Pan Gu creates. Both are celebrated as gods of creation. The Iroquois and the Chinese creation myths both explain different social standings within their communities, but while the Iroquois thought all people are mostly good with the males being superior, the Chinese thought that aristocrats are perfect while poor people are inferior beings, and superiority is less oriented about gender.
The Iroquois and the Chinese view women in completely different ways, and this was reflected in their creation mythology. In "The World on the Turtle's Back," a mother and her daughter are exiled from Sky World for having free thought and work together to create the world that the Iroquois live on. When they die, the mother's head becomes the moon, and when the daughter dies, "From her head grew the corn, the beans, and the squash-'our supporters, the three sisters.' And from her heart grew the sacred tobacco" (Iroquois 2). The two women become the foundation of Iroquois livelihoods and culture but they are not worshiped as gods. The daughter's crooked son kills her and her straight son kills the mother, yet for creating animals, they are the "two beings [who] rule the world and keep an eye on the affairs of men" (Iroquois 3). The mother became the moon and watches over the night, but only the two sons are recognized for their contributions. In Chinese creation mythology Nu Wa is celebrated as Pan Gu's equal. Both are credited with creating the civilization, with Pan Gu separating chaos into heaven, Earth, and the world below and Nu Wa creating man from clay. Instead of being punished for curiosity like in the Iroquois myth, the woman is the one who "drove the beasts back and healed the earth" (Chinese 2). Nu Wa also melts stones from the river to patch the sky, showing the practice of metallurgy, which is important to a society's technology.
The Iroquois and Chinese also disagreed on whether or not humans were inherently good or not. In "The World on the Turtle's Back," the Iroquois demonstrate that humans are all naturally good, and even those that appear evil should still be respected equally. The story explains that in the end of creating the world, “the right-handed twin made man” (Iroquois 2). The left-handed twin has an unknown role in creating man, but if the right-handed man was the one to create man, then man must be mostly good. When the right and the left-handed twins confront each other, the right-handed twin lies to the crooked twin who in contrast tells the truth. The creation myth explains that even if women are inferior to men, the men should be given equal respect because they are all a blend of good and evil. In “Pan Gu and Nu Wa,” some humans are shown to be created inferior to others. Nu Wa creates all humans, but “The ones she made by hand became aristocrats, and the ones she made with the vine became the poor common people” (Chinese 1). The story says that different genders were created purely for the purpose of reproduction, but the rich aristocrats should be given more respect and a higher class by their superior creation.
Civilizations have had forms of social hierarchy since ancient times, but the form of the separation is often different. In China the hierarchy demonstrated in myths was of economic standing, while in the Iroquois tribes, class was determined by gender. The difference in class division between the two cultures could be why the communities are oriented in different ways. In China where economy gives power, certain officials are above everyone else. Gender does not play an important role, so often women become officials. In the Iroquois culture where gender gives power, the men are all equals, taught to respect each other even if some lie more than others. Power is more evenly distributed among people of the same gender, and trade is less important because tribes and families share their wealth and knowledge as a community.
Reflection
Table of Contents
Creation Myths Essay
Across the world each civilization has its own way of explaining how the world was created. In the Iroquois story "The World on the Turtle's Back" the women create the Earth, but the men are worshiped as gods for creating land animals. In the Chinese myth "Pan Gu and Nu Wa" the man creates the Earth and shapes the universe, while the woman creates mankind and saves the world that Pan Gu creates. Both are celebrated as gods of creation. The Iroquois and the Chinese creation myths both explain different social standings within their communities, but while the Iroquois thought all people are mostly good with the males being superior, the Chinese thought that aristocrats are perfect while poor people are inferior beings, and superiority is less oriented about gender.The Iroquois and the Chinese view women in completely different ways, and this was reflected in their creation mythology. In "The World on the Turtle's Back," a mother and her daughter are exiled from Sky World for having free thought and work together to create the world that the Iroquois live on. When they die, the mother's head becomes the moon, and when the daughter dies, "From her head grew the corn, the beans, and the squash-'our supporters, the three sisters.' And from her heart grew the sacred tobacco" (Iroquois 2). The two women become the foundation of Iroquois livelihoods and culture but they are not worshiped as gods. The daughter's crooked son kills her and her straight son kills the mother, yet for creating animals, they are the "two beings [who] rule the world and keep an eye on the affairs of men" (Iroquois 3). The mother became the moon and watches over the night, but only the two sons are recognized for their contributions. In Chinese creation mythology Nu Wa is celebrated as Pan Gu's equal. Both are credited with creating the civilization, with Pan Gu separating chaos into heaven, Earth, and the world below and Nu Wa creating man from clay. Instead of being punished for curiosity like in the Iroquois myth, the woman is the one who "drove the beasts back and healed the earth" (Chinese 2). Nu Wa also melts stones from the river to patch the sky, showing the practice of metallurgy, which is important to a society's technology.
The Iroquois and Chinese also disagreed on whether or not humans were inherently good or not. In "The World on the Turtle's Back," the Iroquois demonstrate that humans are all naturally good, and even those that appear evil should still be respected equally. The story explains that in the end of creating the world, “the right-handed twin made man” (Iroquois 2). The left-handed twin has an unknown role in creating man, but if the right-handed man was the one to create man, then man must be mostly good. When the right and the left-handed twins confront each other, the right-handed twin lies to the crooked twin who in contrast tells the truth. The creation myth explains that even if women are inferior to men, the men should be given equal respect because they are all a blend of good and evil. In “Pan Gu and Nu Wa,” some humans are shown to be created inferior to others. Nu Wa creates all humans, but “The ones she made by hand became aristocrats, and the ones she made with the vine became the poor common people” (Chinese 1). The story says that different genders were created purely for the purpose of reproduction, but the rich aristocrats should be given more respect and a higher class by their superior creation.
Civilizations have had forms of social hierarchy since ancient times, but the form of the separation is often different. In China the hierarchy demonstrated in myths was of economic standing, while in the Iroquois tribes, class was determined by gender. The difference in class division between the two cultures could be why the communities are oriented in different ways. In China where economy gives power, certain officials are above everyone else. Gender does not play an important role, so often women become officials. In the Iroquois culture where gender gives power, the men are all equals, taught to respect each other even if some lie more than others. Power is more evenly distributed among people of the same gender, and trade is less important because tribes and families share their wealth and knowledge as a community.